Pirates of the Caribbean: Are We There Yet?
by gothiktenkasen
Summary: My third installment of the Ashlyn series. We're off to save Jack, but I'm beginning to wonder what everyone is really coming for as I'm caught between Tia Dalma's loneliness, Will's intensity and Elizabeth's silence.
1. Soft Conversations

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

----

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: Are We There Yet?

----

Chapter 1: Soft Conversation

----

I sat by Will and gently cleaned his left ear lobe. I glanced at his face. He stared straight ahead, back rigid in the anticipated pain. He wore a red shirt we stole from a merchant ship and his hair was tied back. I inhaled through my nose.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked, eyeing him. He nodded without a word. I held an ice cube on the front of the earlobe for a good minute before setting it down and picking up an apple slice. Placing it in his mouth, I took another one and placed it behind his ear. I picked up the long needle that had been soaking in hot water. I cleansed the tip in the candle flame. I looked at him. "Okay Will. Breathe with me." In the second inhalation, I pierced the ink pinpoint. He bit into the apple slice; nothing dramatic, just a flinch. I hastily took a small gold ring that I had been wearing. I clipped it in. I cleaned the area once more and sat back. His tan, calloused hand flew up to feel the tender flesh. He winced slightly.

"Doesn't your father give you all your earrings?" He asked softly. I shrugged.

"You can have one and I'll have the other." I tucked my hair back to show him the gold ring as my second piercing on my right ear. Will nodded and exhaled deeply. We sat in the quiet for a moment. "How long do you think before we reach Singapore?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I don't know." I fingered the end of my sleeve.

"I don't want you to get the charts by yourself." Running a hand through my loose hair, I stared at him evenly.

"You're not coming with me." He stated firmly. The breath hitched in my chest,

"I've lost one person I love, Will, don't make me lose another." A look passed through his eyes and we fell into silence. I shifted and reclined, placing my head in his lap. His hand rested on my head, almost instinctively. My fingertips curled into a fold of his pants.

"What do you think will happen when we find Jack?" Will asked quietly.

"I don't know." I whispered. I felt him hold his breath for a moment.

"Ashlyn… you're a woman…"

"Excellent observation William." I replied sarcastically. He made an impatient noise.

"What I mean is… well, you know women, you know what it's like at least… do you- do you think Elizabeth is in love with Jack?" He paused, waiting on baited breath. I rose and looked at him evenly. I studied his face, the features that I had grown to love over the time I had spent trapped in the Caribbean. I reached out and cupped his cheek in my palm. I grazed his skin with the pad of my thumb and sighed, saying,

"I don't know."

"Ashlyn? Child, where are ye?" It was Tia Dalma. Will and I separated almost immediately and I busied myself with the remaining apple slices. She appeared in the doorway of the storeroom. Her eyes studied me for a moment before she beckoned to me. "Come child." Obediently, I stood and followed her, not daring to look back at Will.

We had been at sea for several weeks and in the course of that time, Tia Dalma had taken me under her wing. Even then, I wasn't sure if she did so for my sake, of her own loneliness. I bunked with her at nights and she had grown slightly protective over me for reasons I did not understand. I never bothered to ask her. It felt… nice, actually, to have that maternal guidance in my life after spending so many years without it. The sentimental side of me gave way completely to the cycles we fell into. She would brush my hair late into the night when I could not sleep and dared not to seek out Will. She provided me more piercings and a female companion that I did not want in Elizabeth. Tia Dalma taught me some of her magic, something that surprised me.

"Does this mean that I have an inherent ability for magic?" I asked. She laughed, shaking her head.

"Do ye still have tha crystal I gave ye?" I nodded and pulled it out from beneath my shirt. I handed the warm necklace to her and she held it up. "It is dis dat I gave ye."

"What about it?" I asked rather stupidly.

"It will protect ye when nothin' else can." After that, she spoke no more of the subject and my apprehension of her forbade me to press on.

----

Just wanted to establish a beginning before we hop right into the third movie. I actually rather like the relationship between Tia Dalma and Ashlyn. She seemed so sad and lonely in the third movie…

But I was wondering how/when Will got his ear pierced. Anyone else notice that?

Reviews are Love,

The Idiot Author


	2. Trust

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

----

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: Are We There Yet?

----

Chapter 2: Trust

----

We were two hundred miles away from Singapore when we decided to swap ships again. That's what we had taken to calling it; swapping. It wasn't necessarily stealing, per say, I mean, we didn't leave a crew in the middle of the ocean with no vessel. We just, gave them our old one. Tia Dalma rose a mist and we came close to the other ship, silent swinging onto it's deck. I found it strangely reminiscent of when Jack, Will and I commandeered the _Interceptor_. Pintel and Ragetti cast ropes over the edge of the merchant vessel we had been on and weighed anchor. It made easier for the crew we pushed over the edge.

I went down to the brig to see if there were any prisoners aboard. To my delight, I found none. I poked around and surveyed their supplies. They had more than enough fresh water but their food was low and wouldn't feed three people for more than two days. It was times like these that I thanked Poppins. I settled down on a barrel and removed the bag from my shoulders.

"How've you been holding up?" He asked. I shrugged.

"Alright I suppose." I tucked my hair behind my ear. It had grown considerably since I had gotten here and I didn't have the heart to cut it. "You know, what exactly happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" The bag sounded a little more than suspicious. I coughed.

"Why did you want to just make anything you wanted?"

"Who doesn't?" I sighed with a mild frustration.

"How did you hear about Tia Dalma?"

"How does everyone else hear about Tia Dalma?"

"Stop being an ass!" I snapped. He chuckled.

"Sorry. I just wanted to get a rile out of you since you've seemed so down lately." I softened and hugged Poppins.

"You're suffocating me." I pulled away.

"But how did you hear about Tia Dalma?" The bag paused for a moment.

"It was a while back. I was in my twenties, under the service of the First Brethren Court,"

"What's the Fi-" The bag shushed me.

"Let me finish!" He demanded. I rolled my eyes. Ever the child. "Some stuff happened, I'm not really at liberty to talk about it. But I was introduced to Tia Dalma and helped her settle down in the Bayous. I came and went as I pleased, I sort of lived there, but not really."

"And you asked her to grant your wish?"

"Yep. But then I made an ass of myself and tried to cheat her, which never works mind you. No one can cheat Tia Dalma, so she popped me into a bag."

"And you've been like that ever since."

"She kept me around for a bit before trading me for that pretty gem you wear around your neck." My hand came to rest on my chest. The jewel was warm.

"If you say so," I muttered. We chatted a bit more before I hear someone coming down the stairs. I shushed the bag.

"Ashlyn?" It was Elizabeth. I stayed silent and waited for her to come into view. "Oh, there you are." Her voice was faint. I kept my mouth shut. "Um," She glanced away from me. "I just wanted to come talk to you."

"About?"

"What happened. I know… well, I suppose you saw me." My lips were pressed in a firm line. "You have to believe me, I don't love Jack." She finally blurted. I stared at her,

"How can I trust you?"

"The same way I trust you with Will." She replied. She got me there. I flinched internally. I decided to say nothing, only nodded and Elizabeth turned and disappeared to the upper deck.

----

Damn. Poppins speaks!!!

Reviews are Love,

The Idiot Author


End file.
